Army Maj. James Kim, a chaplain, top right, speaks with the fallen soldier’s father, Kwabena Mensah, after a certificate was presented to him.

Mary DiBiase Blaich

The choir of St. Luke’s parish, the Bronx lifts congregants in song.

Mary DiBiase Blaich

U.S. Army and FDNY members salute Mensah’s casket outside the church.

Mary DiBiase Blaich

Posted
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 10:00 pm

Army Pfc. Emmanuel Mensah, 26, a New York Army National Guard soldier, died in a Dec. 28 Bronx apartment house fire that claimed 12 other lives. He is credited with saving four lives and returning to the building at 2363 Prospect Ave. in an attempt to save additional lives before succumbing. The day before the Funeral Mass, Mensah was posthumously conferred the Soldier’s Medal, the Army’s highest award for heroism that occurs outside of combat, and the New York State Medal for Valor, the state’s highest military award, presented for acts of heroism on and off the battlefield. Mensah, a native of Ghana who became a naturalized citizen of the United States, belonged to St. Martin of Tours parish, the Bronx, and was also part of the Ghanaian Catholic community at St. Luke’s.